Lessons With Coffee

Hi there! I bet you have been wondering where I was? Well.  First I got moved to 8th grade algebra over the winter break. I am a bit heartbroken over this but will get over it pretty quickly.  My students are relatively nice and have adapted ok.  Here is some pictures of my new classroom: Going to a new grade level was not what scared me, having new students was not what scared me, being on a new team was not what scared me. What scared me was trying to learn a new way of thinking about algebra.  I am good at algebra.  I mean I passed the secondary math test...I have to be ok at it right?  But being able to do things and being able to TEACH things are two completely different things.  The other day I sat at my "desk" (I do not have a desk in my new room...just a kidney table) until 6:30 pm trying to find an aproachable way to teach writing a function from a table?  WHAT Guess and check is not an opti...

HI!  I had a huge outcry for the step by step for my DIY Christmas Mugs so here it is! Gather your materials.  I have two porcelain mugs I got for $2.99 at Target, I have OIL BASED PAINT MARKERS, washi tape, a pencil and my printed out designs.  The markers MUST be OIL BASED.  You can not use regular Sharpie markers and expect them to stay on.   You can see I used a few different brands.  The Sharpie is the smoothest but these worked. Take your printed out design and flip it upside down.  Use your pencil to completely cover the back side with the graphite from the pencil.  Flip it right side again and use the washi tape to tape it onto your cup.  I like the washi tape because it leaves ABSOLUTELY no residue. Start to trace your design with your SHARP pencil. This picture is hard to see, but once traced, take your stencil off and you should have pencil marks on your cup! Go a...

Hi Everyone! It has been forever since I have blogged.  I have been reflecting on my December, and the many changes that are heading my way and I wanted to let you in on a little update. I will be changing a few things around here.  Nothing Huge but yes...change. First.  I got moved (yes mid year) from 6t grade to 8th grade.  Friday December 19th was the last day with my 6th graders, the last day in room 2608, and the last day on team Indianna.  Starting tomorrow, I will be the third 8th grade algebra teacher.  I have new students (and more of them), a new classroom (a little bit bigger but still tiny), a new team (I am actually on both team Minnesota and team Wisconsin), new curriculum, and finally, new stress levels. Second. I GOT ENGAGED YALL!  So I have been spending time planning that.  While it is very exciting it is also very stressful.  So here is what you might see change around here: -I need to take at le...